Motion for Re-trial Denied & other Updates

We just received news from King J. (Jorge Cornell) that their (J., Peaceful, and Ernesto’s) motion for re-trial was denied by Judge Beaty, who released a twelve page response to the defendants’ request. J. was told by his lawyer that it is entirely possible that the sentencing hearing may not even get scheduled until August. We got to see J. today at Orange County Jail where they have all been for about a month. J was in good spirits and is ready to move forward with his first appeal as soon as possible. He did, however, describe how frustrating it is that they have all been stuck in county jails, getting moved around, while the government dragged its feet in response to the motion filed days after their verdict in late November.

In other updates, Jason Yates (King Squirl) has decided to take a non-cooperating plea for the first count of conspiracy to commit racketeering. Squirl maintained his support for the other Kings who went to trial and expressed that he would have stuck it out through trial if he had not been severed from this case. His decision to plea was a personal one as it related best to his situation, and though we don’t have all the details of the plea in our hands yet, we have every reason to believe he has been honest with us in his decision and has remained un-cooperative with the feds, who have harassed him non-stop since he was severed from the original trial due to incompetent legal counsel (his state-appointed attorney never visited him in the year from the time the indictment was released in the fall of 2011 to the pre-trial hearings in the fall of 2012).

King Paul, Dice, and Spanky are all finished previous time in other facilities and have expressed their gratitude to the continual support from the outside. King Dice is finishing his state time from previous legal issues at Marion Correctional Institute, which is well known as a miserable and corrupt institution. A prisoner at Marion recently wrote into Chapel Hill Prison Books on the intricacies of the racist antagonisms that guards perpetuate amongst prisoners as well as the general intolerable conditions, check that piece out here.

Members of the ALKQN Support crew are still in California with Queen Smiley’s family. The support from folks all over the country has been incredible and has sincerely helped the family through this process of grieving and re-organizing their lives without their mother. Mother’s Day is coming up this Sunday and we know that if Smiley were with us today she would be joining us at the Mother’s Day demonstration outside of the women’s prisons in Raleigh. For more details check out the call-out here.